An incident involving a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Mumbai has gone viral after a video of him abusing hawkers and police surfaced on Sunday. The legislator, who has been identified as Ameet Bhaskar Satam, belongs to the Andheri-West assembly constituency.
Road accident kills four hawkers in Patna
In the video that has led to a controversy, Satnam is seen kicking and beating a group of hawkers. He is also seen chastising a policeman for allowing the hawkers to carry on their unauthorised activities in his constituency.
The video has captured Satam verbally abusing the hawkers and rebuking the policeman that his authority is useless.
The abuse inflicted on the hawkers prompted them to write to Juhu police. It is alleged that Satam allegedly hit them and also took their money.
False complaint filed
However, Satnam has claimed that the hawkers have filed a false complaint. "A false complaint has been filed against me for seeking action against illegal cooking on the roads. The police are not able to take action against the illegal hawkers operating within 100 metres of their stations," Satam told the Indian Express.
MLA justifies act
Satnam also tried to justify his actions based on a seizure of cylinders a few days ago. "After a seizure action in Manish Nagar a few days ago, they were afraid of taking cylinders in their vehicles, saying they were leaking. Then, imagine, what kind of danger these cylinders are posing to residents," Satam added.
He alleged that the hawkers were trying to "demoralise" him against discouraging illegal hawker activities.
"Before registering a case against me, a contempt case against zonal DCP and local police inspector should be filed for not following the October 2015 High Court order that banned illegal cooking on the roads. This is an attempt to demoralise me. But I will continue to fight against illegal hawkers," he added.
He even justified his abuse by calling it an "emotional burst".
"I had seen six charred bodies in the fire in an under-construction building in Juhu two days ago, and my reaction was an emotional outburst," said Satnam. "I have not committed any crime. A case may be registered against me if I am at fault. But, action should also be taken against police officials for allowing hawkers to operate freely," he added.
Shiv Sena reacts
Satnam's act did not go down well with Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe asked whether this is the good governance that the BJP wants to implement in Maharashtra.
"If this is the style of certain BJP leaders, is this their style of good governance they want to implement? The hawkers policy has been finalised with guidance by the Court and it is the government's responsibility to implement it across the state," Gorhe said.
"By abusing the police officers, the BJP MLA has insulted the police force. It is condemnable," Gorhe added.
Meanwhile, police have said that appropriate action will be taken after investigations are done.
"We will record their (hawkers) statements and have also asked them to get a medical check-up done for injuries they may have sustained. Depending on that, the next course of action will be decided," senior police inspector of Juhu police station told the Indian Express.
The officer also added that they received the video clip on Monday.
Here's the video of Satnam kicking the hawkers:
@AmitJai25573769 Mumbai BJP MLA @AmeetSatam का ये चेहरा आपको झकझोर देगा कि हम कैसा #NewIndia बनाने जा रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/i4Jaa8qtTM
— Manish Thakur (@Manish16Thakur) September 10, 2017
